The Old Boys Club Where I Work

Dear Readers of the Community Blog, I need to rant.  Any suggestions are welcome. 

I work at a gym.  When my boss hired me as a "desk girl" (yes, that’s what he calls them, even though you have to be 18 to work for the company), I was his favorite.  He routinely told people what an assett I was to the gym and how he wished I wasn’t leaving for school in the fall, so I could be a membership counselor for him.  Believe me, I had a terrible time reconciling this with my feminism. After a few weeks, he fired a bunch of people and promoted me to sales, or membership counseling as we call it.  I was so excited – counselors make crazy good commission.

Within a few days, it was obvious that my place in the gym had changed.

The sales manager quite literally said to me he didn’t like me anymore now that I was taking money out of his pocket. The boss began hounding me – harder than ANY of the men – to go out and generate business.  I have told him that it makes me uncomfortable to be walking around putting fliers on cars by myself, because if someone gets angry I may not be able to defend myself.  He refuses to send another staff member with me.  There will be times when all the male sales people and the managers will be sitting around a computer shooting the shit and when I join the conversation, he says go make some phone calls. 

I knew that I was hired because I was cute and enthusiastic (literally, he said that) but it was just a summer job and I knew I could do well at it, so I took the opportunity. Now, I feel as though I am completely reaping what I sowed. I am "the girl." I am the butt of every joke.  In my first month, I did the 2nd most volume of all the sales people, but when asking a question about my (perpetually incorrect) commission, the sales manager says to me "You don’t sell anything, so you don’t even count."

I’m leaving this job in a few weeks to go to school, but I am miserable every minute I’m there (6 days a week).  I’m coming back next summer hopefully to be a personal trainer and not a counselor, as there is no sales component to training.

Should I say anything about it? How do I get the respect I deserve in the work place? Help me!

Just to clarify – the sales manager and the boss are different people.  There is one other membership counselor who is a female, but she is treated like one of the boys.